Gold Certificates

Gold Seal US Currency

What
is a Gold Certificate?

Gold Certificates
are United States Currency authorized by the Currency Act of March 3,
1863 and issued through 1934. Series 1934 was printed but never
released to the public. They were released
solely to banks.
Only a few museum specimens of the 1934 series still exist. Gold
Certificates were issued as small size bills starting with
the series of 1928 and have distinguishing gold seals. They could
be exchanged for gold coins but this changed on Dec. 28, 1933
when President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 6102
forbidding the
holding of Gold
Certificates (and gold coins) and in turn, ordered the
banks to turn in all
stocks of Gold
Certificates. On April 24, 1964, Secretary of the
Treasury C. Douglas Dillion removed the restrictions on acquiring or
holding Gold
Certificates.
Gold Certificates have
been issued in $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000
denominations. There was also a $100,000 Gold Certificate
printed for the series of 1934 featuring a portrait of Woodrow Wilson.

Small size Gold
Certificates were printed and issued to the public only
for the series of 1928. Series 1928 issued $10, $20, $50, $100,
$500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 denominations. There was a
series 1928A $100 Gold
Certificate printed but was later scheduled for destruction and
never released to the public. There are, however,
many series 1928A bills known to exist today. Series
1934 was printed but never
released to the public. The 1934 denominations printed were the $100,
$1,000, $10,000, and
$100,000 bills.